Tuesday, May 1, 2012

One of my favorite moments as a new mama was when my baby first smiled up at me. Gas? Reflex? Just messing with me? What did I care? It was a big, toothless, engaging grin, and I ate it up.

That toothless mouth soon filled up with teeth, early on. My firstborn, Mikko, started growing them early, at around 3 months. It was one of his primary skills: growing teeth and hair, every parent's pride. Even through the increased drool and the sharp little white points emerging, his smiles never became any less cute!

Our second baby, Alrik, took his time getting started on teething, but now he's making up for it. At 10 months, he seems to be growing them ALL. At once.

Three sharp ones have popped through on the bottom. (Why three? Why lopsided? Come on, kid, think of the aesthetics.) Two fang-like spaced ones on the top have descended, giving him the moniker Vampire Baby. The middle ones are creeping out to fill the gap.

Vampire baby filling in those front teeth!

Since I know how much tooth pain can hurt (boy howdy!), I want to make sure he's comfortable as he cuts all these new chompers.

Baby Orajel Naturals Teething Tablets

So I was happy to try out the new Baby Orajel Naturals Teething Tablets with Alrik. I had thought we would be getting a numbing gel, but the tablets we got are actually a homeopathic treatment. Baby Orajel is a well-established brand (#1 for teething), and this is their first foray into homeopathy. I'm glad the bigger companies are getting on board with natural remedies.

Using Chamomilla as one of its key ingredients, Baby Orajel Naturals Teething Tablets are belladonna-free, benzocaine-free, dye-free, alcohol-free and paraben-free.

The three ingredients with their purpose:

Calcarea phosphorica, 3x HPUS — supports dentition

Coffea cruda, 3x HPUS — wakefulness and diuresis

Chamomilla, 3x HPUS — irritability

HPUS means the ingredients are officially monographed in the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States.

If you'll remember, there was a kerfuffle recently because a different brand of teething tablets had belladonna, which is a poison in higher doses. Baby Orajel Naturals Teething Tablets have the other key homeopathic ingredients without the controversial one, which is reassuring. The Chamomlia, in particular, is supposed to help with the fussiness associated with teething. Chamomile flowers have long been used medicinally as an anti-inflammatory to ease discomfort.

Using the tablets

The directions are to dissolve 2-3 tablets (1 at a time) under the baby’s tongue. You can also dissolve them in a teaspoon of water before giving the water to the baby. You can give 2-3 tablets every hour for up to 4 times a day or as recommended by a licensed health care professional.

The tablets feature a quick dissolve rate of about 10 seconds. I found that this is true. I had a little trouble getting them under Alrik's tongue. If you put something in his mouth, he thrusts his tongue out and down, effectively blocking my homeopathic reach.

I'm not sure how legit this is, but I just surrendered to putting them on top of his tongue, and watched him thrust his tongue in and out in confusion, trying to figure out why there was now some sort of white powder coating it. But, they really did dissolve within seconds, so he got the benefit of them regardless of where it started.

I tried one out myself, just to make sure there wasn't some weird taste; there was no taste, which I thought was a good thing. Though I can see how that could be disconcerting to a baby wondering why I'm putting a tasteless, disappearing treat on his tongue!

The bottle is compact and holds a lot of tablets. It's easy to slip into a diaper bag pocket to keep handy. I break them out on car rides when Alrik is screaming, and I'm not sure why (besides the obvious car-seat-jail indignity).

Come on, Mama, let's get this puppy open. Time's a-wastin'.

So is this how you apply it? This does feel good on my gums…

How do they work?

I know many of my readers swear by homeopathy, and I've been given homeopathic treatments by midwives and naturopaths. I believe the basic premise is that small amounts of natural substances can produce healthful results.

With both my kids, I've never been totally sure if their teething is bothering them or not. They have the drool (hoo boy, do they ever!), and the gumming everything in sight, but they haven't had fevers or diarrhea or other symptoms that some people swear are connected to teething.

However, Alrik does have this near-constant expression that we describe as his teething face, as if he's half-grimacing all the time (but in a super cute way!). I'm never sure if I should be medicating him just in case, or if the fact that I can't tell if he's in discomfort means that he's not. (Any insight appreciated!) On the one hand, Alrik will sometimes get upset and start screaming for what we think is no clear reason. On the other hand, I don't want to dope him up with pain meds that he doesn't need.

Teething face. Translated: What is going ON in my mouth?!

To that end, I appreciate having a natural, low-intervention way to soothe any discomfort he's experiencing. I can feel confident that the Baby Orajel Naturals aren't doing him any harm, and I'm happy for any beneficial effect he's receiving. I pop one in whenever he seems most uncomfortable, so I'm glad to have them on hand.

Happy teething baby

BUY IT!

If you want to give them a try for yourself, Baby Orajel Naturals Teething Tablets are becoming available nationwide in early 2012. Look for them at Target, your local drugstore, grocery store, baby store, or superstore.

WIN IT!

For your own chance to win a $100 Target gift card, courtesy of BlogHer and Baby Orajel Naturals, enter for a chance to by leaving a comment below, telling me a favorite moment you had as a new mom. Not a mom? Let me know your favorite homeopathic remedy.

Contest is open to UNITED STATES residents, age 18 or older, only.

TO ENTER, TELL ME:What was your favorite moment as a new mom? Share yours in the comments for a chance to win!

Leave a valid email address so we can contact you if you win. You can enter it like this to foil spambots: mail {at} naturalparentsnetwork {dot} com

RULES:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

Be sure to visit the Baby Orajel page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers' reviews and find even more chances to win.

Disclosure: I received a sample product for review purposes.
This post is sponsored by BlogHer and the sponsors.
I try to seek out only products I think you would find
relevant and useful to your life as a natural parent.
See my full disclosure policy here.

Ugh I kinda hate questions like this, to be perfectly honest. I never have a "favorite moment" to answer. How do you pick between first snuggles, first smiles, first words, first steps, and so many other wonderful moments??? For purposes of entering the contest, I'll say the first time he stuck out his tongue, because that was like the first trick we taught him and it was exciting to see him do something intentionally and realize it!

I have to pick just one favorite?! Smiles are definitely incredible. The first few times Daniel nursed I was totally amazed that both of our bodies knew what to do (for the most part) even though neither of us had ever done it before.

My favorite mom moment, i thought, happened when my little girl was 9 months old and she crawled up to me and gave me a huge kiss and said "mama" without any prompting for the first slobbery time. However, i then got pregnant with baby number two and had him on March 15th. We've been having a rough go at it and my little girl wasn't too happy, but about 2 weeks ago she came up to us laying on the couch from playing with her blocks and gave him another slobbery kiss and touched his nose and said buubbyaaa (her form of bubba) i burst into tears to see both of my babies so happy. To make it better, he had his first real smile immediately after this.

My favorite moment was when I told my toddler I loved her. She responded back saying I love you. When I asked how much, she replied by stretching her arms wide an saying 3! That was as far as she could count!!! Andthat was a big number. Now today, my toddler all grown up and planning a family of her own, we reflect back on that small statment, that had a huge impact in our lives.

My first special moment as a new mom was when I knew my son was going to start babbling, just that anticipation and then there it was while just gazing into his face and those little lips moving and at first no sound came out of them. He caught on fast and that sweet little voice came out. I'll never forget it.

My favorite moment as a mom is every day at nap time when I rock my twin boys to sleep. They both lay there on my chest so peacefully and snugglely and lovely. It makes all the stress of the day melt away.

With my first daughter, it was when we first saw her, confirming this beautiful, special life we'd created. With my second daughter, it was having her placed on my chest as soon as she was born and having her latch on. I needed that immediate bond with her. – blondredhead at mac dot com

My daughter had colic which was concerning at the time. Now what I remember of that time is just holding her while rocking in the rocking chair and listening/humming to music. Eventually she went off to sleep and I cherish those memories of us together.

fave moment is when breastfeeding finally 'clicked'. i thought we'd never get the hang of it but now i'm still nursing my son who is 15 mo old and it's the most natural, wonderful thing in the world!! :)

My favorite moment as a new mom was holding my baby girl for the first time, and look forward to getting to holding my son for the first time when he arrives in July. I also loved and still do love seeing all my daughter's firsts heididaily at gmail dot com

My favorite moment was when my daughter took her first step. I was getting so worried because, while she'd pull herself up on the table, she would never let go and take a step. It was our dog that got her to walk for the first time; she took her pacifier and walked a few steps away from my daughter and dropped it on the ground...and my daughter went after it and took two steps. She was more shocked than I was LOL

After months of using baby sign to reiterate words to my son without him responding, he finally crawled over to his high chair and signed "more" and "eat"!! I was elated! It wasn't all a waste of time!! Hooray!

My favorite moments as a mom with both of babies (one is 13 years old, one is 3 months old ;))is the early morning breastfeeding sessions. I love how connected I feel/felt to my little ones during this time. <3

One of my favorite moments was bringing her home from the hospital. It was father's day and my birthday and everyone came just to see her. It made me realize how much I loved her and how important she is to our family.

I was a totally inexperienced 18 year old when my oldest son was born. I'd never even changed a diaper. The first time I changed him in the hospital I put the diaper on backwards. Now that baby is about to turn 30. I can barely believe it.Thanks for the giveaway!eswright18 at gmail dot com

While I am not biologically a mom my friend refers to me as her son's second mommy. Because from the time he was born until he was 1 year old I lived with her and actively participated in his care. I loved getting up with him at night sitting in the quiet feeding him, changing him and putting him back to bed. Some times I even did this before his mother or father woke up. His mom only knew I had gotten up with him because his diaper was a different color (cloth diapers are great) or a bottle was missing from his night time cooler. She was always grateful for the extra sleep this afforded her, I was grateful for the experience because I may never get to have children myself. Now I help other women who are struggling with their children.lpninpain@gmail.com

My favorite moment as a new mom, was nursing my baby girl for the first time and not having an issues with her latching at all. I had nothing but problems with our son for the first few weeks trying to establish a good latch and getting him to nurse.

My favorite moments as a new mom were when my daughter would pretend to get mad and she would get this really serious look on her face, stomp her foot and shout "I'm mad!" Haha! I almost died laughing everytime!

My favorite moment would have to be recently in the car. My 4.5 month old son was hungry and used that opportunity to let us know he could say Ma Ma by calling out for me! Granted it was whiny and he was fussing, but it was adorable that he chose that moment to get my attention!

Not a mom but very much into homeopathic treatments! One of the best ones I have recently found is the use of peppermint essential oil to help relieve migraine headaches, or any headache really. Angie 14earth at gmail dot com

Watching my baby laugh in her sleep was my favorite part of becoming a mom just 10 weeks ago. Really just watching her dream at all. She laughs, she looks worried, she coos, it's all too damn sweet. I love it.

Watching my baby laugh in her sleep was my favorite part of becoming a mom just 10 weeks ago. Really just watching her dream at all. She laughs, she looks worried, she coos, it's all too damn sweet. I love it.

Watching my baby laugh in her sleep was my favorite part of becoming a mom just 10 weeks ago. Really just watching her dream at all. She laughs, she looks worried, she coos, it's all too damn sweet. I love it.

Not entering but just wanted to say... My daughter had some awful teething days, and I swear by the homeopathic remedies. They helped her more than anything else! I don't know how the stuff works but it does. :)

There are so many moments. But now that my baby is walking and talking and all too quickly growing up, it absolutely melts my heart when she stops and signs "I love you" to me. She'll even do this from across the room.

read my books

sign up for hobo mama news

meet hobo mama

Riding the rails with my husband, Crackerdog Sam, and our hobo kids, Mikko Lint Picker (born June 2007), Alrik Irontrousers (born May 2011), and one on the way (coming October 2014). Trying every day to parent intentionally and with grace.